Green levy on motorists doubles car tax revenue to £4billion but only reduces emissions by less than 1%

Labour's controversial green taxes on gas-guzzling cars will cost motorists an extra £2billion while cutting harmful emissions by less than 1 per cent, the Tories claimed last night.

Critics immediately claimed the Government was imposing a 'stealth tax' which would have minimal impact on levels of pollution.

Under plans outlined in the this year's Budget, Chancellor Alistair Darling vowed to raise road taxes to encourage people to dump vehicles that pump out the most pollution.

He announced that from April 2010 motorists buying cars that emit the highest levels of carbon dioxide - such as 4x4s and sports cars - would be punished with a ' showroom' tax of up to £950.

Taxes on gas-guzzling 4x4s net the Government more than £4bn a year, the Tories claim

He also revealed six more road tax bands would be added under the radical shake-up, with cars that spill out the most CO2 - the greenhouse gas linked to global warming - being penalised by up to £455 a year, compared with £300 now.

Mr Darling took the unpopular decision to encourage people to switch to greener cars.

But hard-pressed drivers of family cars and estates, including the two-litre Ford Focus and Nissan Micra, will be hit hard by being forced to fork out hundreds of pounds more to use the roads.

Low-polluting cars including the Toyota Prius will go tax free.

However, Treasury projections seen by the Tories suggest that annual income from car duty will rise from £1.9billion to £4.4billion by 2010 - up £2.5billion.

But at the same time, emissions from motoring are expected to drop by less than 1 per cent.

Conservative Treasury spokesman Justine Greening, who uncovered the figures from Parliamentary answers, said: "This is a massive tax hike which will have virtually no impact on the environment.

"Despite their claims, the Government don't expect this move to change behaviour at all - it is just another eco stealth tax of the worst kind."

Edmund King, president of the AA, said that motorists would be 'shocked' paying higher vehicle excise duty for little environmental benefit.

He said: "The public face a double whammy after also being hit with higher petrol prices. This just benefits Treasury coffers, not the environment."

A Treasury spokesman said the Government's new road regime was about "taxing the bad and rewarding the good".

Some 30 million cars are registers in Britain and the number increases by some 500,000 a year.

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Green levy on motorists doubles car tax revenue to £4billion but only reduces emissions by less than 1%